NR-HQ-01-28E

Canada-United States Yukon River Salmon Negotiations

April 5, 2001

Whitehorse, Yukon – Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced today that representatives of the United States and Canada have successfully ended sixteen years of negotiations on Yukon River salmon. Following productive negotiations, the delegations prepared and initialed the text of a Yukon River Salmon Agreement that addressed all fishing conservation and management issues, including harvest shares.

"I am very pleased that after sixteen years, agreement has been reached on conservation and management measures, including catch shares of chinook and chum salmon as well as a restoration and enhancement fund for Yukon River salmon," Minister Dhaliwal said. "This agreement will provide certainty and stability for Yukon fishers with the first ever catch limits on interception of Canadian-origin Yukon River salmon."

The Whitehorse text will be reviewed in Washington and Ottawa and the details still require official approval by the U.S. and Canadians Governments before a final agreement is signed. However, the delegations agreed that their intent was to begin to apply the elements of the initialed text as soon as possible for organizational and planning purposes.

The Yukon River Panel, once established, will meet this fall to resume management recommendations. The Panel will make recommendations to the Government of Canada and respective agencies in the U.S. on conservation and management of the salmon originating in the Canadian portion of the Yukon River.

The negotiations took place in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. The U.S. delegation was led by Stetson Tinkham and the Canadian delegation was led by Amos Donohue. Procedural details are still being worked on and further information will be forthcoming.